A month
by madmother2
Summary: Spoilers for season 10, particularly 10.8. What if Gerry had looked back after inviting Sandra to the pub for the second time? Starts at the end of 10.8
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Yes, I'm meant to be finishing other fics but this one just wouldn't leave me alone.**

**Spoilers for season 10, particularly 10.8.**

**At the end of 10.8, what if Gerry had turned back at the door and seen Sandra crying? (Essentially a fixer upper for 10.8, which I hated (and if you liked Max you won't like this).)**

**Sandra/Gerry**

Chapter One

'Coming to the pub?' said Gerry for the second time.

'I'll be there in a minute.'

Gerry started through the door but then heard the hitch in Sandra's breathing. Turning back, he saw the tears running down her face. For Gerry, watching a woman he loved cry and doing nothing was impossible. Going round her desk, he said,

'Come 'ere.'

He held his arms out to her and she stood up and let him pull her into his arms, clinging to him. He rubbed her back and stroked her hair soothingly as she cried, saying after a couple of minutes,

'You're only going to Europe; I'll visit. And I bet you won't be able to stay away for long.'

'Because of your irresistible charm?'

Sandra's voice was muffled in his shirt and still sounded a bit watery but the acerbic edge he loved was there.

'That's right,' he replied, 'You'll go into withdrawal and have to come back to get a fix.'

'Yeah, right.'

Sandra was laughing now and as their eyes met Gerry put on a fake wounded look, hamming it up for her benefit.

'I'll have you know, many women find me irresistible.'

'Is this before or after they've taken their medication?'

The insult was marred by Sandra taking a large sniff to try to avoid smearing bogeys on his shirt. Smiling, Gerry got out his hankie and handed it to her. Sandra mopped her eyes and blew her nose then looked critically at him, saying,

'Gerry Standing, have you been crying too? You old softy.'

Until she'd said it, Gerry hadn't realised that he'd been crying as well.

'Who? Me? Nah, just got some dirt in me eye.'

'Liar,' said Sandra, giving him the sweet smile that turned his insides to goo.

He was smiling back when there was a brief knock followed by the door immediately opening. Robert Strickland came in along with Max. Strickland started saying,

'Sandra, we just need…'

However, Max interrupted him, snarling,

'Take your hands off her!'

Startled, Gerry dropped his hands from Sandra's back and stood away from her, saying placatingly,

'Take it easy, mate. It was only a hug.'

Max's raised voice brought Steve and Dan to Sandra's doorway just in time to see Max aim a punch at Gerry's head. Taken by surprise, Gerry reacted late but moved sideways so that the punch just grazed his jaw instead of hitting him full on. He blocked the punch from Max's other hand on his arm, feeling surprise turn to anger. However, before he could retaliate, Strickland and Steve had pulled Max away and Dan was blocking his way. Gerry went to go around Dan but then Sandra was standing in front of him, putting her hand on his chest, saying,

'No.'

The feel of her hand on his chest stopped him dead, and he allowed her to push him round her desk and into her chair. Once she was sure that he would stay put, she said,

'How badly are you hurt?'

Gerry rotated his jaw and prodded gently then said,

'Just bruised I think.'

'All right. Dan, go and get the ice pack.'

Dan nodded and headed to the small fridge to get the ice pack that they kept in the freezer compartment.

Satisfied that Gerry was all right, Sandra went and stood in front of Max who was still being held firmly by Robert and Steve. Glaring at him, she said,

'What the hell was that?'

'He was touching you.'

Max's voice was full of rage and Sandra looked at him in bewilderment,

'I was upset, he was comforting me.'

'Comforting you! Trying to get you into bed. I've seen the way he looks at you!'

'No he wasn't. Gerry and I are friends, nothing more. As for the way he looks at me, he looks at any woman with a pulse that way.'

Behind Max's back, Dan and Steve exchanged incredulous looks; did Sandra really not see it? However, neither of them spoke; the last thing this situation needed was more fuel for the fire.

'I don't care. I don't want him touching you!'

Max's tone was autocratic and the other four men in the room looked at him in disbelief; yes, he hadn't known Sandra for long but surely he didn't think that was the line to take?

Sandra's eyes blazed as she said,

'What gives you the right to say who can or cannot touch me?'

'You belong to me. From now on I will decide what you can and cannot do.'

'Holy fuck!' muttered Strickland, wondering when his friend had gone mad.

Gerry dropped the ice pack and shot out of Sandra's chair, positioning himself behind her, ready to hold her back even whilst longing to give the plonker a swift kick in the nuts himself. Sandra took a deep breath, feeling icy cold anger settle over her and said,

'No. My body belongs to me. I decide who gets to touch it and when.'

'Hear, hear,' said Gerry.

'Shut up, Gerry,' said Sandra automatically.

'No,' said Max, 'If we are together then no one but myself gets to touch you or kiss you.'

'So if I kiss another man then we're done?'

The other men looked at each other in disbelief as Max said,

'Yes.'

'Fine,' said Sandra.

She turned to Gerry and said,

'I've wondered for years if you're as good a kisser as you claim to be. Let's see, shall we?'

She looped her arms around his neck and tried to pull his face down to hers. Gerry held her off, saying,

'Sandra, this is a terrible idea.'

'Yes it is. But it's your one and only chance to kiss me. Or was it all mouth and no trousers? How disappointing.'

The bite in Sandra's voice goaded him into saying,

'No it bleedin' well wasn't.'

He looked into Sandra's eyes and saw pain as well as anger and knew that he couldn't humiliate her by turning her down. Not that he wanted to anyway; he'd wanted to kiss her for over nine years now and if this was the only time he was ever going to he was going to make it memorable.

Sliding one hand around her waist and cupping her head gently with the other he bent his head to hers and kissed her. He started off gently but then increased the pressure of his lips, brushing his tongue across her bottom lip, coaxing her into opening her mouth for him. For a couple of seconds she stayed stiff in his arms before responding to his kiss and then they were devouring each other, tongues battling for dominance as years of suppressed desire poured into the kiss. Sandra felt fire shooting through her body as Gerry gently tugged her earlobe between his finger and thumb before sliding his hand through her hair and holding her head in place. In return she scratched the base of his neck gently and he shivered, pulling her more tightly against him. By the time the kiss was over, Sandra was weak at the knees and shaking with desire and Gerry was visibly aroused. Unfortunately, Max's voice reminded her that she had unfinished business as he said,

'That is unacceptable behaviour.'

Turning round, she was careful to keep herself in front of Gerry as she said icily,

'For someone who belongs to you, you mean?'

'Yes.'

'I'm sorry, I thought that you would have understood. I kissed Gerry because I don't want to be with you any more. In fact I never want to see you again.'

'You're leaving me?'

Max sounded aghast and Sandra sighed exasperatedly,

'You've hit my best friend, thrown a jealous tantrum and talked to me as if I was a piece of property. What possible reason could I have to stay?'

'I'm sorry. I just get so jealous. Come with me. Once we're away from here it'll be fine.'

Every single one of them could hear the unspoken corollary, 'Once you're isolated from your friends and totally reliant on me, it'll be fine,' and Sandra shut her eyes, feeling exhausted, saying resignedly,

'I've bloody done it again.'

'Done what again?' asked Max.

'Chosen a complete tosser. You can guarantee that any man I choose will have something seriously wrong with him. Usually they're either married or commitment phobic but this time I managed to go one better and choose a jealous control freak. Terrific.'

Sandra ignored Max's injured denial and turned to Strickland, saying,

'Are those my transfer documents, Sir?'

'Yes,' said Strickland, handing her a sheaf of paper.

Sandra calmly turned on the shredder and shredded them, saying,

'Looks like you're stuck with me, boys.'

'You're turning the job down too?' asked Max.

'Since I don't want to be within a hundred miles of you, yes.'

'Don't you think you're overreacting?' said Max.

'You need to leave,' said Sandra quietly.

Max glowered but Steve and Strickland led him as far as the corridor, finding a PC to escort him out of the building before coming back.

Sandra looked at the men in the room and said,

'Well? Am I overreacting?'

'No,' said Strickland reluctantly, 'That level of jealousy would make him impossible to live with even if you were willing to let him control you.'

'Which you never would be,' said Gerry, 'You hate being told what to do. Besides, we all know what that sort of controlling behaviour leads to.'

Sandra acknowledged Gerry's meaning with a nod. As police officers they'd all seen where controlling relationships could lead, to abuse, violence and even death.

'Nah, you're well out of it,' continued Gerry.

'Aye,' said Steve.

'I agree,' said Dan quietly, 'A loving relationship is about trust and respect not jealousy and control. Your partner doesn't belong to you, she chooses to share her life with you.'

'Well said mate,' said Gerry squeezing Dan's shoulder.

Dan coloured slightly and excused himself to go back to his desk where he busied himself tidying up some files. Strickland looked thoughtfully at Sandra and Gerry and said,

'Sandra, could I have a word?'

'Just a moment, Sir.'

Sandra went over to Gerry and looked at his rapidly swelling jaw,

'Go home and put some ice on that.'

'But…'

'I'll call you later.'

Gerry looked from Strickland to Sandra hesitantly and Sandra said firmly,

'Go.'

Gerry reluctantly picked up his coat and keys and left and Sandra shooed Steve out of her office and shut the door before turning to Strickland and saying,

'Sir?'

'First I want to apologise.'

'Apologise?'

'For introducing you to Max. I'm sorry, I had no idea he was like that.'

'How could you have known? I'm just glad I found out before I'd taken the job.'

'Yes, it could have been very unpleasant. Thinking about jobs, if what I've heard is correct they'll be looking for a new head of the murder squad in a months time. Would you like me to suggest you for it?'

'Yes please, Sir.'

'Right… Sandra?'

'Sir?' said Sandra, bracing herself.

'You know there's nothing in the regulations preventing you from having a relationship with a civilian consultant.'

'Sir,' said Sandra baffled. Was Strickland giving them his blessing?

'Just keep it out of the office from now on.'

Sandra blushed furiously and Strickland smiled as he left.

**Please review**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Sandra closed the door behind Strickland and sat at her desk and stared blankly into space as she tried to process everything that had happened.

Two hours ago she'd been preparing to jet off into the sunset with the love of her life. Except he'd turned out to be a total wanker.

And she'd shared a bone melting kiss with Gerry Standing.

With her new man had come an exciting new job, which she now wasn't going to do… because of aforesaid total wanker.

And unless her eyes were deceiving her Gerry had become as aroused by the kiss as she had, despite allegedly requiring Viagra nowadays.

Sandra's thoughts completely derailed as she contemplated using her hands and her mouth to drive Gerry to distraction.

Eventually, she managed to pull her mind out of the gutter long enough to think about work. Strickland had suggested that she might be able to be the new head of the Murder Squad.

And he'd given Gerry and her his blessing.

But she and Gerry were so badly suited, weren't they? Except that they spent hours together outside of work and even though they argued like cat and dog on occasion, they always apologised and forgave each other. Hell, she'd turned dates down because she had agreed to meet him and would rather be with him.

And her body was still buzzing with desire.

Gerry was holding a packet of frozen peas to his jaw and sipping a bottle of beer whilst watching a football match on TV when the doorbell went. Putting the peas and beer down on the coffee table, he went downstairs and opened the door, finding Sandra smiling at him. He automatically let her in, concealing his surprise. Sandra was an incredible woman but when it came to dealing with personal issues she was far more likely to run than anything else. He had expected her to text rather than call him, her coming round to see him hadn't even occurred to him.

'I got fish and chips. I hope that's okay?' said Sandra.

'Great,' said Gerry, 'I'll get the salt and vinegar.'

'And the ketchup.'

'Peasant,' said Gerry, going through to the kitchen and getting them forks as well as the salt, vinegar and ketchup and getting a bottle of white wine out of the fridge.

They sat on the sofa, eating their fish and chips out of the paper and watching the football. Once they'd eaten, Gerry threw their rubbish away and they sat sipping their drinks. After a few minutes, Gerry turned the television off and said,

'What did Strickers want?'

'To apologise for introducing me to Max and to see if I wanted him to put my name forward for head of the Murder Squad.'

'Head of the Murder Squad? Nice one, Guv. When?'

'About a month.'

'So we get you for a bit longer?'

'Yes, possibly a lot longer. There'll be a lot of competition for the Murder Squad.'

'You'll get it. They'd be fools to give it to anyone else.'

'Thank you, Gerry,' said Sandra, leaning over and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

As soon as her lips touched his skin, Sandra felt her arousal increasing, the buzz from earlier returning tenfold. Pulling back, she looked into Gerry's eyes, seeing her desire mirrored in his eyes. Hesitantly, she said,

'Gerry, about the kiss…'

'Yes?'

Gerry braced himself to be told to forget that it had ever happened. Instead, Sandra said,

'You were right, us kissing was a terrible idea…'

'Yeah, well…'

'Because I can't pretend it never happened.'

'Me neither,' said Gerry, making eye contact with Sandra, seeing a mixture of confusion and desire in her eyes.

'So what do we do now?' he asked.

'What do you want to do?'

'I want to kiss you again but are you all right? What with Max and that.'

'I don't know. I should be upset but I'm not, not really. I mostly feel relieved, which is crazy, isn't it?'

'Depends whether or not you were really in love with him, doesn't it? If you were just infatuated then discovering he was a bastard before it was too late would be a relief, I reckon.'

Sandra grimaced,

'I think we can safely say that I wasn't in love with him… I feel such an idiot. I knew he liked to be in control but I was so infatuated it didn't ring any alarm bells.'

'Yeah but he wasn't showing any real signs of being a control-freak before today, was he? I mean, he hadn't thrown any wobblies before, had he?'

'No.'

'Well then, you ain't psychic, are you?'

'No, just hopeless.'

'Don't be so hard on yourself, Sandra, we've all done stupid things when we're infatuated.'

'I suppose.'

Sandra sounded unconvinced so Gerry said,

'Want to know the stupidest thing I ever did? You won't believe how bad it was.'

'Go on then.'

'All right but you have to promise not to tell a soul.'

'Really? I can't have been that bad.'

'Promise, Sandra.'

'Okay…I promise.'

'Right. Well, I was about eighteen, completely green but thought I knew everything.'

Sandra nodded, saying,

'No change then.'

'Oi! Do you want to hear this or not?'

'Sorry,' said Sandra, without any sincerity.

Gerry fixed her with a firm stare and waited for a moment before continuing,

'I met this woman in a bar…'

'Surprise, surprise.'

'Anyway, she was absolutely gorgeous; twenty-two, blonde, intelligent, amazing body and astonishingly didn't have a boyfriend. So, I chat her up for a bit and then she invites me back to her place and we have sex. Thing is, she's pretty rough and I end up with loads of bruises but when I ask her about it afterwards she says that she can't stand weak men and it was just a test and I passed and we can have sex whenever I like.'

'Oh, Gerry…'

'I know, but the trouble was, I'd never had regular sex before so it wasn't my brain that was doing the thinking. So, I carry on seeing her and carry on getting bruises but I'm so infatuated that I don't care. Anyway, a couple of weeks later, she suggests spicing things up and gets some handcuffs out and like a complete pillock, I let her cuff me to the headboard. It's only when she lights a couple of cigarettes that I realise what an idiot I am. I ask her to let me go but she just laughs at me and tells me not to be a pansy.'

'What happened?'

'She stubbed a cigarette out on my forearm. I screamed, then pulled on the handcuffs till one of them broke, grabbed my clothes and ran.'

'God.'

'I've still got the scar.'

Gerry rolled up the sleeve on his left arm and showed Sandra a circular scar, white with age but still visible. Sandra gently caressed the scar then, without thinking about it, bent over and kissed it gently then ran her tongue around it.

Gerry groaned as desire shot through his body. Smirking, Sandra ran her tongue around the scar again and Gerry reached for her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. This time Sandra responded immediately and within seconds their tongues were exploring each other's mouths. Sandra sighed as Gerry kissed her neck, sucking gently at the pulse point below her ear. She ran her hands down his back and tugged his shirt out of his trousers then scratched his back. Gerry groaned again and suddenly his hands were pulling her T-shirt out of her trousers and sliding up to cup her lace clad breasts. Sandra pushed into his hands as her body flooded with desire. Gerry started to push her back to lie on the sofa but then stopped himself and stood up and led her into the bedroom instead.

Once in the bedroom, they kissed again, losing themselves in each other. Sandra unbuttoned Gerry's shirt and pushed it off his shoulders, running her hands over his chest. Gerry stilled her hands and held her away for a moment, saying,

'Sandra, are you sure?'

'Yes. Are you?'

'Never been more sure of anything in my life.'

Sandra smiled and then they were kissing again and Gerry was slipping Sandra's T-shirt off and undoing her bra. He kissed her passionately as he slid her bra down her arms then stood back so she could drop it on the floor. Gazing at her, he said,

'You are so beautiful.'

'Thank you.'

Gerry closed the distance between them and they both moaned as their skin touched. Suddenly they were pulling the remainder of each other's clothes off frantically whilst kissing and caressing each other. Gerry pushed Sandra gently on to the bed and followed her, lying beside her. He kissed his way down her body using his hands and tongue to drive her wild, only stopping when she was incoherent with lust. Sandra tried to reciprocate but he stopped her,

'No.'

'I want to.'

Gerry smiled as Sandra pouted. He kissed her pout and said,

'Next time. I'm on a hair trigger here, Sandra. I'm going to struggle as it is.'

'Better get on with it then.'

'Patience, Sandra, patience.'

'Seriously, Gerry? How long have you known me?'

'Good point.'

Gerry reached into his bedside cabinet and pulled out a condom and slipped it on and then gently joined their bodies. He leant down and kissed Sandra tenderly then began to move.  
Sandra felt as though her body was on fire. Moaning, she ran her hands along his arms and chest, scratching lightly then wrapped her legs around his waist urging him to move faster.  
Gerry groaned and moved faster and faster as the pleasure built. Desperately holding back, he took his weight on one elbow and used his other hand to pinch one of Sandra's nipples lightly. Sandra screamed and climaxed and Gerry followed her over the edge, shouting her name.

Gerry rolled them so that he wasn't crushing her and held her as they got their breath back. After a few minutes, he reluctantly moved, disposing of the condom and cleaning up. When he got back to the bedroom, Sandra was sound asleep so he set his alarm and climbed into bed alongside her. He pulled her into his arms, thinking wryly that although it was very early for him to go to sleep, it was probably wise to get plenty of rest; making love to Sandra had been amazing and he wanted to make sure that he had enough energy to perform whenever she was in the mood.


End file.
